


without you, i am surely the last of our kind

by thearchivistt



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Family Dynamics, Implied/Referenced Character Death, also i think i understand tags a little more now lets go, i believe in techno wilbur twins supremacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28188252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearchivistt/pseuds/thearchivistt
Summary: Wilbur had been braiding Techno's hair since they were kids.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade
Comments: 8
Kudos: 155





	without you, i am surely the last of our kind

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on some lovely art by @boboot_ on instagram! please go check her out, I love her art so much!   
> I got kind of lazy with the first part lol, but I wanted to post this anyway. title is from Dream State... by Lucy Dacus

Wilbur had been braiding Techno’s hair since they were kids. 

The first time he did it, they’d both been eight. Techno had let his hair get long- he didn’t want to cut it anymore, he said. He liked having it long. 

Phil didn’t care what his sons did with their hair, as long as they were presentable. He’d been helping Techno dye it pink for about two years at this point, and Techno loved it, so he didn’t see any reason to complain. 

Techno had been distracted by a book when Wilbur wandered over. He didn’t even notice his brother until he asked, “Can I braid your hair?” 

“What?” 

“I saw those girls over there doing it and it looks fun, but you’re the only one with hair long enough for it. Plus, I think Tommy’d kill me if I asked,” Wilbur shrugged. 

Techno considered him for a long moment. “No,” he decided.

“Oh, come on,” said the brown-haired boy, sitting on the bench next to his twin. “You won’t even know I’m there, I swear.” 

“No,” Techno repeated, turning his attention back to his book. 

Wilbur sighed dramatically, but he didn’t get up from the bench. After a few seconds passed, he asked, “Are you sure?” 

“Will you shut up if I let you?” Techno snapped. 

“Definitely.” Wilbur gave him a winning smile. 

“Fine.” 

Wilbur grinned and gestured for his brother to turn around. Techno rolled his eyes, but he turned and Wilbur got to work. 

He wasn’t very good at it at first. He wasn’t sure how to do it- it wasn’t exactly something he’d been taught. However, after a long time and several instances of Techno snapping at him for pulling too hard on his hair, he finally got it right. 

“Look, Techno, I did it!” Wilbur exclaimed when he was done. 

“Mm-hmm. Can you leave me alone now?” 

“You’re no fun,” Wilbur pouted, but he stood up and began walking away. 

When they got back home, Phil asked Techno about his hair. “Wilbur did it,” he replied, looking in the mirror. 

“It suits you,” Phil smiled. 

“You think so?” Techno acted like he wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but after that, he never left the house without a braid in his hair. 

* * *

Techno was sitting on the hill above Pogtopia when he heard someone walk up behind him. Out of habit, he reached for his sword as he turned, but it was only Wilbur. “What are you doing here?” 

“I just wanted to get out of there. Give Tommy and Tubbo a moment. Plus, I thought Tommy might try to fight  _ me  _ if I said anything else,” Wilbur replied, sitting down next to Techno. 

Techno snorted. “I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s gotten much better at it since we were kids, you know. Maybe he’d be able to beat you,” he said, glancing at Wilbur’s hands, which he hadn’t seen stop shaking in weeks. “Hell, he got a few hits in on me.” Techno gestured at his bloody nose. 

“He’s had to get better. If he didn’t he’d be dead,” Wilbur said matter-of-factly. Techno looked at his twin, surprised. He knew Wilbur had changed, of course, but he seemed so… nonchalant about the idea of their younger brother dying. 

“Wil,” Techno said, desperate to change the subject. “Are you really gonna go through with it? Blowing everything up, you know.”

“I think so.” Wilbur absentmindedly began dividing Techno’s hair into three pieces. “I was going to go through with it today, but… something stopped me. I suppose I just didn’t want to kill Tubbo.” 

“I thought you couldn’t find the button.” 

“I lied. I know exactly where the button is. Next time I can make it into Manberg… well.” 

Techno sighed. “You won’t die in the explosion, right? The button is far enough away from everything that… that it won’t kill you.” 

Wilbur didn’t say anything for a while. “Yes,” he finally replied. “But if the explosion doesn’t kill me, someone is bound to. They’ll hate me.” 

“You know I won’t let that happen. Who’ll do my hair then?” Techno joked, but his throat felt like it was closing up. 

Wilbur laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find a way. You could always do it yourself.” 

“I… I guess,” Techno swallowed, trying not to cry. “You know, I could always help you get out of there before they find you. We could… I don’t know. Find Phil and live in the mountains or something.” 

“Hm,” Wilbur said. “Maybe. I don’t know if I could leave L’Manberg, though. I feel like… I have to die here.” 

“But let’s make sure it doesn’t happen anytime soon, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Techno knew Wilbur’s reply wasn’t sincere, but he tried his hardest to convince himself it was. 

* * *

For weeks after Wilbur’s death, Techno couldn’t bring himself to touch his hair. He stood in front of the mirror several times contemplating what to do, but he couldn’t even try to take the braid out without crying. 

He wished he could be angry with Phil. He wished he could be angry with anyone still alive. He wished he could bring Schlatt back from the dead just to kill him again. If he hadn’t exiled Wilbur and Tommy, none of this would have happened. Techno would still be living at his stupid potato farm getting into his stupid fights and he wouldn’t have one dead brother and another who wanted to kill him. 

He couldn’t bring himself to hate Phil, however much he wanted to. He knew the state Wilbur had been in, he’d seen it himself. Besides, Phil was the only person who’d still talk to him, and that had to count for something. 

It was nearly two weeks after the war when he finally told himself he had to do something about the matted braid that hung down his back. If it could even be called that- most of it wasn’t even in a braid anymore. He stared at himself in the mirror for a long while, contemplating what to do. 

He laughed hoarsely when he realized he was crying. “What the fuck is wrong with me,” he said to himself. “It’s just hair.” 

_ It’s just hair,  _ he repeated in his head, before grabbing his sword in his shaky hands and chopping the whole braid off. 

He looked at himself again and all it did was make him cry harder. 

* * *

“Techno, why’d you cut your hair?” 

The question made Techno suck in a sharp breath. He was sitting with Wilbur- or rather, Ghostbur- in his small kitchen. Tommy was asleep in his room underground, and Phil was still stuck in L’Manberg under house arrest. Wilbur had arrived the night before, saying something about Dream sending him into the woods for a month. 

“I guess I just got tired of taking care of it,” he replied. It was only half a lie- the long hair  _ had  _ been a hassle to keep looking nice. 

“Well, I’m here now!” Wilbur grinned. “I can help if you want. I remember I always used to braid your hair when we were kids. I was rather good at it, wasn’t I?” 

“You remember that?” Techno asked, surprised. 

“Of course I do! I only remember the good things, I’ve figured out. I remember braiding your hair, and I remember sparring with you, and I remember making fun of Tommy together, and I remember…” Wilbur trailed off. “Anyway, I’d love to help with your hair again, if you’d let me.” 

Techno looked at his brother for a long time. “I think I’m alright.” 

“Oh,” Wilbur replied, sounding sad. “You aren’t angry with me, are you?” 

“What? No, I’m not angry with you. I just…” Techno didn’t know how to put it into words. How do you tell the ghost of your twin brother that you can’t stand to hear his voice? How do you tell him that being around him made you feel sick? Wilbur’s ghost was a mockery of Wilbur, and Techno  _ hated _ him for it. 

“It’s alright,” Wilbur assured, and Techno wanted to scream. 

“You aren’t him,” he replied quietly, not meeting the ghost’s white eyes. 

“I know. But from what I’ve heard, he was a pretty awful person. So I don’t want to be him.” Wilbur’s voice was so  _ cheerful.  _ “Everyone seems to like me better dead, so I think I’m okay with it.” 

“I don’t,” Techno said. “Like you better dead, I mean.” He regretted it as soon as he said it, but he couldn’t stop now. “You were… I mean, you were a bad person, I’m not saying you weren’t, but… you were my  _ twin brother _ . And you’re not anymore.” 

Wilbur looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry. All I want to do is make people happy, and the fact that I’m dead seems to make people very happy. I wish it would make you happy, too.” 

“Well, it doesn’t,” Techno said bitterly, screwing his eyes shut. 

“Oh, please don’t cry,” Wilbur said. 

“I think you should go. Just… go talk to Tommy or something. I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.” 

“Okay,” Wilbur said easily, and Techno listened as he walked over to the ladder and went down to Tommy’s room. 

Techno went to his bedroom, looking at the small mirror he had. He usually avoided it, but now he looked at his hair. He hadn’t bothered touching it since cutting it the first time, and it had gotten long- not as long as it had been before, but long enough.

He sat down in front of the mirror and began braiding. 


End file.
